Category Archives: Kalimba

Earth Wind & Fire’s eighth studio album Spirit is an album that did a lot to help me to personally conceive of #1 hit funk in terms of an album medium. It celebrated its 40th anniversary this year. And I’ve already covered the album itself here. First purchased it on a cassette tape about 22 years ago. At that time,I remember fast forwarding through it to get to funkier songs. Upon upgrading to a CD copy a year or so later,it became clear that this was one of those very special funk era albums. Each time I listen to these songs,they improve like fine wine with each listening. Almost to the point of transcendence.

One member of EWF,who joined up on the bands fourth album Head To The Sky in 1973 was Andrew Woolfolk. This multi reed player primarily played soprano sax within EWF. As he describes it in the documentary on the band Shining Stars, the elements that he added into the band came from the jazz and funk side. He enjoyed a strong,melodic groove. He also loved to improvise in such cases too. Throughout the years,he’s done just this on many of EWF’s most popular and enduring songs. One song from the Spirit album that amazes me to this day is the Maurice White/Al McKay composed instrumental “Biyo”.

Larry Dunn’s glassy space funk synthesizers open the song before the opening fanfare kicks in. Its full on drums,Afro Latin percussion,Verdine White’s pumping bass line,McKay’s percussive rhythm guitar and the Phenix Horns running on their usual adrenaline. Verdine’s echoed five note bass slap,Maurice’s four note Kalimba melody and Johnny Graham’s bluesy guitar accents make up the refrains. Four members of the band get a chance to solo. Woolfolk does twice-starting and at the end. Graham and Dunn do a solo that dovetail right into each other before Maurice’s Kalimba solo before its fade out.

Earth Wind & Fire added many instrumental interludes/bridges to the albums from their late 70’s crossover period. But for me this is the finest full instrumental based on their sound of that time. The production and recording is a fine example of the band making some of the best recorded funk of that era. Its a melodically and instrumentally busy number with a lot going on sonically. But the powerful Afro-Caribbean funk arrangement still leaves enough room for several amazing solos to interlock with each other. And as a showcase for Andrew Woolfolk,its one of his shining moments of the mid/late 70’s.

Few gigs are tougher than being a tribute band. Hardcore fans of the group or individual have memorized every note of their epic hits and rigorously analyze and assess any and all alternate or different versions. They frequently underrate the ability of the acts doing the tribute, minimizing the instrumental talent necessary to properly perform the music and the undeniable love and respect for the material any group obviously has in deciding to spotlight another band or artist’s compositions rather than their own originals.

But the members of the Pacific Northwest ensemble Kalimba: The Spirit of Earth, Wind & Fire, have never been intimidated or afraid regarding the inherent challenges in this area. They’ve been playing the classic works of the great band since 2011, when lead vocalist Thomas “Chazz” Smith and drummer Jeff Haile joined forces because of their joint love for EW&F’s sound. “It’s a music that combines so many great idioms, and it’s also a positive force in its lyrics, speaking to the need for unity and love among people,” Smith said. “There’s so many great songs in that legacy, and they really combine all the things that both Jeff and I truly love in terms of rhythm, and sound and message. So it was really a labor of love, but it’s also a nightly goal for us to bring that message and music to new audiences, while satisfying all the older fans out there who’ve loved their music and especially Maurice White since the ’70s.”

Kalimba: The Spirit of Earth, Wind & Fire made their Nashville debut Thursday night at 3rd and Lindsley. From their earliest days, they began immediately making an impact. A 10-piece unit with a full horn section and vocalists, Kalimba’s also named for the distinctive second instrument that drummer/bandleader White often played, the kalimba or African Thumb Piano. White, who attended Chicago Conservatory in the mid-’60s, had an impressive background as a studio musician for Chess prior to forming EW&F. He not only played on hits by The Impressions, Muddy Waters, Billy Stewart, Etta James and Fontella Bass, but was also the drummer from 1967-69 for the Ramsey Lewis Trio. Indeed it was while with Lewis that White began playing the Kalimba. But White envisioned something special, a group that could successfully perform all the idioms he loved and be commercially viable without sacrificing the artistry and originality he valued as a jazz musician.

The result was Earth, Wind & Fire, who began as the Salty Peppers for Capitol, and evolved into one of the ’70s and ’80s landmark bands. They would sell almost 20 million albums, enjoy multiple Grammy wins, and eventually be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Equally important in White’s vision was a desire to include upbeat, positive and inspirational lyrical themes alongside love and funk tunes. It’s that inclusive musical model that Kalimba follows in their shows and recordings. Among the tunes they highlight are such gems as “Shining Star,” “Devotion,” “Sing A Song,” “That’s The Way of the World,” and many others.

Their brilliance with the EW&F musical catalog eventually attracted the attention of premier guitarist Sheldon Reynolds, who’d been a member of EW&F for 14 years, and among many other things shared the writing credit for the Grammy-nominated tune “Sunday Morning.” “I heard what they were doing and I was both very impressed and tremendously interested in working with them,” Reynolds added. “It was and is very important to me that the legacy of the band and its music and message continue to be remembered and celebrated, and that’s what Kalimba does. We really get into the music and play it with the feeling and spirit that is our own, but is also very much celebratory of the Earth, Wind & Fire heritage.”

Reynolds’ resume is also quite impressive beyond his lengthy EW&F tenure. A child prodigy, he began his career with Millie Jackson. He’s also played with funk bands Sun and the Commodores, and with musicians ranging from saxophonist Kirk Whalum to vocalists Stephanie Mills, the Pointer Sisters and Paula Abdul, as well as stints with Experience Hendrix. But it’s his time with EW&F that has brought Reynolds his widest praise and fame, and he has very fond memories of that time.

“We were truly a family, and it was an incredible time,” Reynolds remembered. “Maurice wasn’t the type of bandleader who was overly egotistical or never wanted your input. All of us in the band could make suggestions or contributions. It was always about the music, trying to make it right, and about presenting to the people a strong show, an energetic and positive one. It’s also very much what I’ve found in working with this band, a similar type of spirit.”

“Earth, Wind & Fire’s music is so spiritual and special, yet it’s also very earthy and rooted,” Smith added. “Sheldon’s expertise and ability has brought us another added ingredient. He’s a fantastic player, and he’s so rooted in that music that he keeps us very grounded in terms of interpretation and direction. It has been incredibly exciting and valuable for us as a band to work with him, and we’ve got a lot of things that we’re working on for future shows, including the one in Nashville.” Along with Smith, Haile and Reynolds, other members of Kalimba include bassist Dereke James, guitarists Gary Tobin and Michael Cole, keyboardist Jeff Lund, saxophonist Chris Siegmund, trombonist John Groves and trumpeter Ray Baldwin.

Sadly, Maurice White had to stop touring with the group in the early ’90s due to Parkinson’s disease. He died this past February at 74. Reynolds is also battling Parkinson’s, but won’t let that stop him from continuing to contribute to Kalimba. During the show there was a silent auction, with all proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s research.

“We are so thrilled about making our first visit to Nashville,” Smith concluded. “It’s one of the great music cities, and I think people are going to be really thrilled to hear this music. With the things that are happening right now in the country and all the divisiveness in the current campaign, Earth, Wind & Fire’s music is something brings people together and celebrates the good things and positive force in the world.”

Earth Wind & Fire had one of the most telling experiences with the post disco radio freeze out of the early 1980’s. Their inaugural album of the decade entitled Faces an alternately Afrocentric and idiosyncratic double album that was not as popular with audience as it’s sale figures indicated. Philip Bailey often mentioned he felt that when record label pressures began being put upon EWF to began courting their own classic sound, it actually began the downfall of that sound. Their subsequent album Raise! is actually among my favorites of theirs and got them a huge hit in “Let’s Groove”. The band indicate they felt that song signified them chasing success. Still this was a creative fertile period for EWF.

From their very first days at Columbia,EWF had always reserved some of their more experimental musical elements to linking interludes between songs. They were generally under a minute long. And the more pop oriented their sound became,the more anachronistic these interludes seemed to become. Still it was an excellent chance to showcase that they were still musicians. On vinyl the second side of the Raise! album began with such an interlude entitled “Kalimba Tree”. On the album it was under 30 seconds long. As featured in the 1982 EWF concert filmed in Oakland California,it was a lot longer. The new Funkytowngrooves reissue of the album features this longer version.

A round,space funk synthesizer wash opens up the groove. The percussion rings away as Verdine White’s bass line provides the most potent rhythmic element. As the higher key choral element comes in,brother Maurice’s Kalimba comes as Verdine’s bass scales down more. All along with one of Philip Bailey’s classic ebonic chants-later repeated on a second vocal course by Maurice. Roland Bautista plays a glassy guitar solo along with Don Myrick’s jazzy sax solo. On the final refrain,hand claps come deep into play with a more rocking solo from Bautista as the same space funk synth wash that opened the song closes it out.

Sometimes when I hear a song,the mind begins to wander in terms of what might’ve been. Earth Wind & Fire would only have two more albums out of their original Columbia run after 1981. Hearing what I only understood to be a brief interlude extended out in this fashion got me to think just how long numbers such as “Departure”,”Brazilian Rhyme” or even 1983’s “Mizar” might’ve actually been as originally recorded. In any case,this showcases that the mixture of Afro-Brazilian rhythm,funk and jazz that were at the core of EWF’s sound were still alive and well amid the technological changes during the 1980’s. And that the band were still thinking on that same level as well.

Five years before he left to found Earth Wind & Fire, Maurice White was the second drummer for the Ramsey Lewis Trio. He had succeeded the groups original drummer Isaac “Red” Holt after he’d left to form Young-Holt Unlimited in 1966. That group in turn had a huge instrumental hit with “Soulful Strut” three years after leaving Ramsey’s trio. Maurice observed that while the trio played on a lot of college campuses while he was in it, most of the audience were more in his age group than Ramsey and bassist Cleveland Eaton. In the latter period of his being part of the trio,began to envision a jazzy funk/soul sound that would appeal more to latter silent generation people.

Maurice’s final album as the drummer for the Ramsey Lewis Trio was 1969’s Another Voyage. For the most part,it continued in the groove and rhythm centered soul jazz the trio had pioneered throughout the 60’s. A groove that became crucial to the development of the jazz/funk genre as much as that of the Jazz Crusaders. For his part,Maurice had already developed a strong interest in Egyptology. That cultural ethic and music had also been popular with free jazz pioneers such as Sun Ra beforehand. And Maurice was intent on integrating that into Ramsey’s trio by the end of the 60’s. The result was my favorite song on this particular album entitled “Uhuru”-the Swahili word for “freedom”.

Eaton’s funky upright bass popping opens the song. It lays the groundwork for the rhythm of the song-most of which is supplied courtesy of Maurice White himself. His percussive drumming on the song is based on a slower Clyde Stubblefield style rhythm with a lot of jazzier fills on brushing cymbals and hi hat. Over that Maurice brings in the main melody on the African thumb piano known as the Kalimba. This melodic statement evolves into a thick,purely rhythmic solo as the song continues. The sound of the trios members hooting and hollering ques to one another comes together with hand claps on the final verses of the song for an extra thick groove.

When I first heard this song,it occurred to me that the melody Maurice played on Kalimba here was one which I’d heard before. That same Kalimba melody did in fact show up 14 years later on the EWF album Powerlight in 1983. It was used on the more electronic interlude of “Mizar” at the end of the albums first side on vinyl. The sound on this song,it’s title and general atmosphere showcased the beginning of Maurice White’s expression of Afrocentricity as a positive social and musical force as the 1960’s transitioned into the 70’s. On the more personal level,it was exciting to hear the main framework of EWF’s sound begin while Maurice was the drummer in another group.

With the beginning of the third official year of Andresmusictalk? It’s hard to realize that Kool & The Gang have never been officially covered in the Anatomy of THE Groove segment. James Brown himself referred to them as “the second baddest out there” during his prime funk period. And at least somewhere in their now 46 year strong career? The band have continued to find some way to give up the funk,and grow with it’s changes to meet great success. Still,it was the early to mid 1970’s that really showed just what Kool & The Gang were musically capable of.

Starting off primarily as an instrumental group with occasional unison vocals? The mid 70’s bought more concise and pop hook driven numbers that focused on individual vocal trade off’s. This resulted in their first massive crossover hits such as “Jungle Boogie”, “Funky Stuff” and “Hollywood Swinging”. In 1975 the band released their sixth studio album entitled Spirit Of The Boogie. It helped define them,and the Bell brothers burgeoning Muslim spirituality,through a stronger Afrocentrity. The song that pulls that all together for me is “Ancestral Ceremony”.

The chant”yeah yeah YEAH!” from the bands female backup singers Something Sweet begin it all with the accompaniment of Kalimba and nothing more. Shortly thereafter,drummer George Brown’s phased hi hat roll rings in the percussion,than the steadier main rhythm. A phat and thumping symphony of synthesized and electric bass sets the stage for the bands trademark horns to join into the musical festival. The entire group along with the backup singers join back into the opening chant with Khalis Bayyan’s jazzy tenor sax solo to close out the groove.

While just about any funk from Kool & The Gang in this time period is cream of the crop of it’s genre? Something about the instrumental,vocal and thematic attitude of this song sums up the “united funk” era in just over three minutes. 1974-1976 found them at the height of their artistic and commercial pinnacle. And it was good for them personally because the lyrics to this song found them with the understanding of being “scientists of sound,rhythmatically puttin’ it down” while “making merry music” all the way. So this is some of the very finest funk ever recorded!